And So Death Came
by Of Stories Told
Summary: They shared a final moment together, in the quiet that followed the battle. It was a moment neither of them wished would ever end. It would in turn become a memory that would last the ages, of that they were sure.


He stood beside her in the wreckage of the castle. There were rips and tears in her clothes, speckles of blood dotting her pale skin like unwanted freckles. Her red hair, once vibrant as flames themselves was now made dull by a thick layer of soot.

Yet still she looked as beautiful to him as she ever had.

She didn't look back when he approached. She kept her eyes straight ahead. He didn't fault her for it. He didn't want to see her cry, and he knew she would should she turn to look at him.

"You're going… aren't you?" She whispered, her voice soft and sweet. There was no condemnation in her tone, no anger or fear, simply acceptance.

He smiled softly, wincing as the wounds he'd sustained earlier in battle began to make their presence known.

"I would have bought a house for us." He started, his smile growing into a lazy grin at the thought. "One far into the countryside, with no one to bother us for miles and miles. It would have been a large house, pretty too."

He saw her smile then, though it was offset by the tears now falling freely down her cheeks.

"It would have been a ridiculous marriage." She giggled, the sound broken with a choked sob. "My mother and father would have never left us alone, and Fred-"

She paused then, growing silent once more.

He took her hand in his, closing his eyes so he could fully immerse himself in her presence, if only for a short while longer. "We would have had a large family, made larger still with all of our friends coming by with their own." He breathed, trying to hold back his own tears, he needed to be strong now. "We would have never had a moment alone."

"What would we have named them?" She questioned, eyes looking far off into the distance, far away from this battle and all of the destruction is had caused.

"Knowing me? I'm no good at names, you know that." He said self deprecatingly. "I probably would have named them after my parents, or even the headmaster."

She squeezed her hand in his at that. "Oh that would have been terrible, can you imagine? The one named after your father would have been a downright menace, and after Albus? What impossibly big shoes that would be to fill."

He opened his eyes, and looked up to see her staring straight at him, her tears were still falling yet she remained so strong.

"I would have loved you, you know?" He stared into her eyes, willing himself to never forget the loving expression she held for him. "I would have spent the rest of my days loving you." He moved to hold her cheek in his hand. "This I swear to you." He whispered, afraid to speak any louder and break this quiet moment they shared.

Her smile then was bittersweet, and he wished for nothing more then to erase it, she should never have to make such an expression. She should never have to feel such sorrow.

Not for him, never for him.

"I know." She whispered. She leaned in close then, her lips pressing against his for a moment that he wished could have lasted past the ages. "I will always know, for I would have loved you too."

They both pulled away then, he moved and looked into the forbidden forest, where his path was waiting for him.

"Ginny..." He called out, his selfishness demanding to see her just one more time, one last and final time.

"Whatever happens..." He smiled, he knew what he was about to do and yet…

He looked up at her, his green eyes blazing with determination.

"For you, I would fill the world with flowers, if only to make you smile."

She blushed then, the words reminding her of a similar vow he had spoken once before, in a past that had once been filled with hope.

She watched him leave, watched as he took a bit of her heart with him.

"I don't want flowers you silly boy." Her tears were falling again, but she didn't mind.

"All I ever wanted was simply you."

* * *

When the light came, it was peaceful. He woke up alone in the station, a long robe of white covering his frame.

Then a cry came out, and he realized he was no longer alone.

A babe, bloodied and deformed was laid down beside him, his headmaster was to the front of him and a being he knew all too well stood simply watching them all.

"You could return to her Harry." Albus told him, his eyes kind and light, the pain he'd suffered in life finally gone from his soul. "We could keep watch here, and all those promises you'd made could come true.

He smiled at his headmaster, for even in death did the man still try and offer him aid.

Instead he turned to look at the figure.

"What will become of him?" There was no question on who it was he was talking about.

The figure tilted his head, as if curious. "He shattered his soul, and in life did not retrieve them. In death they have scattered, taking all who he was, could have been, with it."

"And if I leave him? What will become of him then?" He stood, standing tall and proud before the two men, both far wiser then he and yet all of them equals.

"He would be lost forever, there will be nothing waiting for him, no second chances as it were." The figure paused then. "But that is not your concern. You may still leave here, the bonds of death have no hold over you. You may return, and then join me when you are ready."

He shook his head, and bent down to grasp hold of the bloodied child. Images flew into his mind then. He saw the face of a crying woman, her desperate tears as she held her son close, even as her life drained away from inside her. He saw a child abandoned and hated, crying out heartfelt tears that were never heard.

He knew what he had to do.

"Death is not beholden to one place or time." He looked up at the men, his headmaster upset but understanding, and the cloaked figure growing ever more curious.

"Time is with me, let's see if there's a way to fix such a tattered soul."

"If you leave this place, you can never return." The figure spoke, seeming almost hesitant. "You will never see her again, your family, your life… it will all become but a distant dream."

"Harry… should you go on this path… none of us can follow, and neither can you ever return to us in the end… for your end shall never come my child..." Albus looked at him pleadingly. "This fate is a lonely one, I would not wish this pain upon you."

He took a step towards them, and marveled as his clothing began to alter before his eyes. Gone was the white robe, it was instead replaced with one as dark as night though far more endless. He gasped as he felt a familiar weight land upon his shoulders, and looked down to see the invisibility cloak rippling back and forth with the force of a distant wind just barely felt.

Then came the stone, like a black star it fell towards him, quieting the cries of the babe he held in his hands as it turned instead to marvel at the stone before them.

And lastly, did his headmaster walk over. The man once more weighed with sorrow yet smiling with such gentleness that even he was left momentarily speechless.

"This was mine once, but I believe it would serve you far better then it ever did me."

"Where will you go now?" He asked as he moved to grasp hold of the wand, his body coming alight with the power of the hallows, they felt so familiar to him now. It was as if they were simply old friends he had forgotten about for a short while, until at last they found their way back home to his side.

Albus smiled, looking more like his enigmatic self then before. "Why my boy, my adventure is far from over! Just as yours has barely begun." His robes also changed colour, turning from the white they once were to a dull and dark grey. "I'm afraid an old man like me has much more to do before I rest." His smile grew more solemn for a moment. "And far more yet to make amends for."

And with that he was gone, as if he'd never been there to begin with.

"Wizards." His companion muttered, the being shaking it's head as though irritated, though he couldn't help but think it had also sounded rather fond of the older man.

"Where shall we go?" Harry asked, stepping beside the other as they moved to leave the station.

"Our destination lies elsewhere, far beyond this world and the next, where the stars have yet to live, and the skies have stayed untouched by all, where dreams and reality collide." The specter seemed to grin at this. "So much to teach you, so much to learn." He looked down at the babe in his masters arms then. "And so much to heal."

"Then let's be off, we wouldn't want to be late."

The specter laughed and so they departed, not as master and slave, not as boy and death, but as old friends.

World's away, where a battle had been fought and won, stood a girl. Her vibrant red hair seemed like fire in the glowing light of morning, unburdened by the weight of what had transpired merely hours before.

She stood in a field, surrounded by friends and family and laughed, even as she began to sob.

For in the field, where death had visited upon them, were flowers.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I haven't been able to write lately, with a move to a new city, new stresses and worries to fraught over, the urge to write seemed to have all but left me. And then came this. I will write again, and slowly I will gain control of the havoc my life has become. Until then, I hope you have all enjoyed this story, for it was a joy to create. Thank you for reading._


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